msmcleod

You could always use BandLab itself? Cakewalk can upload your ideas as a new BandLab project, and you can invite others to add to it if you want. BandLab will run on most browsers, and also iPhone, iPad & Android devices. Best of all, it's free.

Just noticed your project name... just a hunch, but maybe the spaces are confusing things (reverse is a very old function) - try saving the project using underlines instead.

Looks like the FX bin is bypassed - click the "power" button in the top left of the FX bin.

Yes, the list is fixed. However, included in the list are virtual key presses that can be sent back to Cakewalk/Sonar. If these are mapped to something else within keyboard shortcuts, then those bindings will be executed. Using this method you can get the function keys to run CAL scripts or open Studioware panels.

Ok, look at the MIDI messages that are being sent by the Icon, then look at the corresponding message in the document I posted a link to. I suspect the messages being sent are those of the function buttons. They can be remapped as required using the Mackie Control Surface Dialog:

The MCU protocol uses MIDI note on/off messages for button presses. There are standard mappings for these buttons for the various DAW's, and are usually hard-coded in firmware for non-Mackie control surfaces. Cakewalk/Sonar supports the standard Cakewalk/SONAR mapping, Cubase and the "Universal" mapping. Cakewalk's Mackie Control Surface dialog allows you to map the 10 function buttons to various Cakewalk commands/functions, but beyond that there's not much more configuration. If you need more extensive flexibility, you could look at @azslow3's AZController. The level of customization is extremely flexible, but can be complex to set up - especially if you're unaware of the exact messages being sent by your control surface. Anyhow, in answer to your question, Cakewalk's mapping of messages are listed here: https://msmcleod.co.uk/cakewalk/Cakewalk_MCU.pdf

sounds like a plan

Try disabling the "HD Audio Driver for Display Audio" driver within Windows' device manager. This is the audio device that is used when connecting to an HDMI TV - on some machines it's been known to cause issues with both stability and system performance.

Exporting each project as a stereo file and then creating a master project from them would be my preferred method - that's assuming that you've finished editing the project. The alternative is to combine all of the projects into one, and although you can use track templates for this, this is only really to get around issues with inter-project copying/pasting. The basic premise is: For each project, select all then save as a track template - in other words, each track template will contain ALL of the tracks of each project. So you end up a single track template for each project. Ensure "Allow Only One Open Project at a Time" is unchecked within Preferences->File->Advanced. Create your new project Set the now time to 1:01:000 Insert track template 1 at the bottom your new project Open project 1, then use Window->Tile in Columns to put your new project and project 1 side by side. Select all in Project 1, then Copy Special, making sure everything is checked In your new project, ensure the top track of the template is the active track Paste Special Close Project 1, and delete any tracks you don't need Within your new project, set the now time to the end of the project (where the next part will be pasted) Go back to step 5 and repeat for each project The downside of doing this is that with all of the extra tracks, you're potentially putting a huge extra load on your CPU. You can however get the best of both worlds by bouncing each part to an audio track, then archiving the original tracks - that way all you're doing is playing a single audio track for each part. If you need to edit, delete the bounced audio clip, unarchive, do your edits, then re-bounce.

If you're using WASAPI Exclusive it'll take exclusive control of the audio driver. Setting it to WASAPI Shared will share it with other apps. Alternatively, check "Suspend Audio Engine When Sonar Is Not in Focus" within Preferences->Audio->Playback and Recording.

You shouldn't lose any settings when installing an earlier product, as all of the config files & registry settings go into their own directory. Even uninstalling a product leaves your config files & registry settings intact - this is deliberate, so you can uninstall / re-install without losing anything. There are however some shared components that all products will share - examples include Pro Channel modules, internal synths (e.g. TTS-1), and utility apps such as the plugin scanner. Normally the installers won't overwrite a newer version of a common component, but there is always a danger that it might. This is why you should re-install the latest product after installing something like SONAR Platinum... definitely re-install CbB or Sonar after installing something as old as SONAR 3! As far as backing up your settings, in the Sonar Preferences there is a "Backup / Restore Settings" section under Customization. There you can save your complete configuration as a single file, and restore it as necessary. You can even have different configurations and use desktop shortcuts to launch Sonar with the configuration you require. Instructions on doing this is included in the latest help documentation.

Streamworks Audio's SWA Complete SONAR X2 is old, but covers 90%+ of what Cakewalk does: @abacab has kindly listed a description and links to each chapter in this post:

All you really need is a decent (i.e. fast) PC / laptop, an audio interface and optionally a mic if you're recording acoustic instruments or vocals. Personally, I'd avoid laptops as the more powerful ones sound like jet engines when the fan kicks in, but this may not be an issue depending on what/how you're recording. If you don't use many plugins, you can get away with a far more modest PC setup. If you intend to track using effects though, you'll want a fast PC and an interface with a low round-trip latency. Latency can be reduced by lowering the ASIO buffer size, but you need a fast enough PC to cope with this. If you're using software synths, you definitely want a fast PC. Most audio interfaces have very good pre-amps nowadays. The Focusrite Scarlett range (e.g. Solo / 2i2) are excellent. I find the 1st gen Scarletts more than good enough for my needs, but the later ones have improved preamps. I've heard you should avoid the 1st gen interfaces if you're using the HiZ input for DI'ing guitars (which I never use). You can pick up 2nd/3rd gen interfaces at very reasonable prices second hand. The PreSonus Audiobox 96 is another good contender - fantastic price, great quality, includes a MIDI interface too - but it does have higher round-trip latency than similar interfaces from other vendors. Bear this in mind if you intend to track guitar using VST effects, but it may not be an issue at lower buffer sizes. As far as mics are concerned, a Shure SM57 will cover most bases (or a Shure SM58 for vocals). The SM57 is certainly not the best, but it's a good quality mic that does the job, and you can do a lot with EQ to get the sound you want. If you're recording acoustic guitar, a condenser mic might be more suitable (e.g. AT2020). The Samson C01 is a good all rounder budget condenser - it's not harsh in the top end like a lot of budget condensers, but it does suffer from a bit of hiss.

Sounds like the 2nd graphics card is using the same IRQ as either your audio device or your disk controller. In the old days, you'd just move it to another PCI slot... but nowadays slots are limited. Check your motherboard documentation and find out which slots / ports share IRQ lanes, and (if you can) pick a combination that will mean that two high traffic devices aren't sharing the same IRQ. FWIW - this is why for some users, disabling the network adapter can improve audio performance. Don't just disable stuff though - check the motherboard docs so you can be deterministic about it.

When you're recording automation, you're shown a preview of the automation - more to give you some confidence that the automation is being recorded than anything else. The automation points are then "smoothed" after recording, picking curves that best fit the recorded points. In the new Sonar you have more control over this process: in the "Automation Smoothing" menu under Track View Options, you can choose: Smoothing: same behaviour as CbB / SONAR Platinum - This reduces the number of recorded automation points by picking curves that best fit the recorded points. Useful if you expect to manually edit the automation afterwards, as you end up with a smoother automation lane than hundreds of automation nodes. As Recorded (Linear): preserves all the recorded points received from the controller as individual nodes, and joins them with linear lines. Use this when you need a smooth transition between points, and accuracy is more important than editing afterwards (there will be far more individual nodes than the smoothing behaviour). As Recorded (Jumps): similar to above.. it preserves all the recorded points received from the controller as individual nodes, but doesn't join them. Use this when you don't want a transition between the points - i.e. when recording "mode" type parameters such as synth oscillator waveform, EQ modes or on/off parameters.